January 18, 2012 – XLerant’s BudgetPak allows colleges, universities to link budget with strategy while weathering mounting economic pressure.

XLerant, a leader in powerful budget preparation software, has signed five new clients in the higher education marketplace:

  • Rhode Island School of Design, a four-year art college in Providence; 2,300 students
  • St. Joseph’s College of Maine, a Catholic liberal arts school near Portland; 1,000 students
  • Fisher College, a private business college in Boston; 1,000 students
  • Roberts Wesleyan College, a Christian college outside Rochester, NY; 2,000 students
  • Touro College, a Jewish-sponsored college in New York City; 19,000 students

XLerant serves several higher ed clients and is in advanced talks with more than two dozen others. It also works in the non-profit, insurance, and publishing and media markets, to name a few.

Linda Murphy Church, Budget Director of the Rhode Island School of Design, said she recommended adoption of BudgetPak software after evaluating it against the Malcolm Baldrige Excellence in Higher Education framework.

“As an institution serious about excellence, we need the functionality of BudgetPak. It allows us to manage resources according to our strategic plan and evolving priorities,” Murphy Church said. “The entire campus is engaged in the budget process, presenting ideas in alignment with the strategic plan.”

XLerant Founder Lawrence Serven said, “As administrators face mounting economic pressure, they realize traditional spreadsheets are the equivalent of a slide rule. Leaders determined to have thriving universities are seeking technology that allows their budgets to be change agents.

“With Excel alone, administrators can’t tie budgeting and finance to strategy. Their financial teams are mired in the management of error-prone spreadsheets rather than doing insightful analyses. Their deans and department chairs are frustrated because they’re not finance people; they don’t have vast spreadsheet expertise.”

XLerant’s BudgetPak changes all of that. Working with any general ledger system, it includes a series of prompts that allow users to tailor their budgets to the nuances of their departments. It also gives financial experts extensive ability to analyze data in a multitude of up-to-date views.

“BudgetPak lets us deploy resources with maximum impact,” said Holly Braley, Controller at St. Joseph’s College of Maine. “Our strategy and budget now work hand-in-hand. Done well, a budget is effective. Done poorly, it’s a hindrance.

“With BudgetPak, I finally can do my job. Rather than collecting data from across the college, validating it, entering it on spreadsheets, that’s now done by the individuals who ‘own’ the numbers. I now spend my time managing the process. At any time, I can easily analyze our 60-plus budgets and strategically help guide the college forward.”

XLerant recently released a study of higher education budget directors from across the United States. Two-thirds gave their Excel-driven budgeting process a “C” grade or lower. They said the top complaint among department heads is not being able to own their numbers because of restrictive, difficult-to-use spreadsheets. BudgetPak, in contrast, improves financial controls and gives users the flexibility to develop and manage their budgets easily, in ways that match the needs of their departments.

About XLerant, Inc.

XLerant provides cloud-based budgeting, forecasting and reporting solutions for small to mid-sized organizations — designed for the needs of finance teams and budget managers. XLerant’s non-Excel interface engages budget managers and empowers them to make informed decisions to help achieve strategic objectives. XLerant’s powerful software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution has been recognized for outstanding usability, customer service, and ease of implementation.  For more information, visit www.XLerant.com or follow @XLerant